I find myself gravitating to the gorgeous special editions. A sea of sprayed edges greet me in every color you can think of, the glossy foil embellishments on the covers glinting off the lights. I pick up one of my favorites. I need to read about alphas who care, love, and protect, not assholes who walk out on the female main character.
“Found something?” Kady’s voice comes from behind me as I breathe in the scent of crisp book pages. With Kady’s hair a tad fluffed up after her tussle, Sabs has made the sensible decision to keep her distance from her for now, asking Faye to show her to the sports romance section.
“I think I’m going to treat myself.” I hold up the book. “I’ve already read it, but it’s amazing.” I open the front page. “And it’s signed by the author!”
“You deserve it.” Kady nods, glancing over at Sabs and Faye who are basically drooling at some NSFW art hidden underneath a reversible dustjacket. “Why don’t you go give Sabs some recommendations? Maybe it’ll help her expel some sexual frustration before we’re all woken up by the vibrations of The Dragon in the early hours.
I laugh as I join them while Kady heads to the checkout to pay.
“He’s hotter,” Sabs argues, pointing at one of two twins in the illustrations.
“They’re identical,” Faye tells her. “They’re just as hot as each other.”
“Nope.” Sabs shakes her head adamantly. “He’s definitely the hotter one.”
To break up the argument, I take the chance to show off my soon-to-be new treasure. I don’t have many special editionbooks, so I am extremely excited about finding this one. I’ve always dreamed of having my own library one day—walls lined with pretty books adjacent to a comfort reading chair where I’d sit for hours. I’ve thought about opening my own store after college. A bookish bakery. Something that combines my two loves.
Once we’ve all paid and my new book baby is carefully wrapped, we spend the afternoon moseying around the stores before catching the bus back up to campus in time for me to join my book club meeting.
“Have a fun time, Del!” Sabs hugs me goodbye as we reach Toasted, where I can see the book club has already assembled inside, Nia waving at me through the window. “We can spend the evening curled up with some movies and popcorn, if you’d like?”
“Sounds great.” I smile brightly as I wave my three best friends away.
Although I’ve had a fun time, I’ve been very aware of how closely they’ve been watching me. Whenever they think I’m not looking, they’ve been eyeing me to check that I’m okay. I’m so lucky to have them and grateful that they’ve made so much effort, but I can’t shake a lingering empty feeling. Who knows? Maybe book club will cheer me up.
“You arrived just in time,” Nia says as I sit down after greeting everyone.
“After the discussion, there’s something I have to show you all,” I reply, excited to see her reaction to my new purchase.
In the middle of the large circular table, there’s a huge platter of thick, doorstep-sized sandwiches, generously stuffed with a variety of fresh fillings.
“Let’s dive in,” Nia declares. “This was my first rockstar romance.”
“Mine too,” Gina, another member, pipes up.
Shit. All thoughts that book club may cheer me up are cut short. I totally forgot that we were discussing a rockstar romance.
“Maybe we should discuss the similarities between the protagonist and Jagger?” Missie, a member who has made her crush on Jagger painfully obvious, suggests. “I’ve seen Jagger at least three times on campus. In fact, I actually stood behind him in the Bouncing Bunna line yesterday, so I know he takes his coffee black. Just like the MMC. And look!” She pulls out a scrap of paper from a purse. “This is his receipt to prove it!”
Whispers of awe spread around the table.
At my side, Nia rolls her eyes. “Why don’t we keep our discussion on the plot?” She adds under her breath so only I can hear, “She’s been talking non-stop aboutPack Firesince we arrived.”
Unfortunately, the others seem too fascinated about Jagger’s breakfast order to pay any attention to her. I glumly chew at the corners of a sandwich. Even the freshly made focaccia can’t improve my mood.
“What do you think, Delilah?” Attention turns to me as Missie, Jagger’s number-one fan, fires the question at me. “You study culinary arts. Do you think Jagger would prefer a savory or a sweet snack? I say savory, since I saw a picture of him eating pretzels!”
Despite my usually endless patience, I shift in my seat, becoming more on edge. If they are this wowed by him eating a pretzel, I can’t imagine their reaction if I told them that I know exactly what tattoos he has hidden under his clothes.
Instead, I only muster a shrug. “I really couldn’t guess which he’d like more.”
She continues talking. “You know, people would sell their organs for tickets to his show next week. Did you know it’s hisfirst solo show in years? I heard that he wants to sing to give back to the college. How sweet is that?”
Nia frowns, tapping the cover of the book we’re reading in annoyance. “And what did you think of the main character?”
“Uh…” Missie’s face goes blank.
“What about you, Audrey?” Nia asks.
